Canertinib

J. Med. Chem.,2013 May, 56(10):3820-32.

Kinase scaffold repurposing for neglected disease drug discovery: discovery of an efficacious, lapatinib-derived lead compound for trypanosomiasis.[Pubmed: 23597080 ]

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei . Because drugs in use against HAT are toxic and require intravenous dosing, new drugs are needed.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Initiating lead discovery campaigns by using chemical scaffolds from drugs approved for other indications can speed up drug discovery for neglected diseases. We demonstrated recently that the 4-anilinoquinazolines lapatinib (GW572016, 1) and Canertinib (CI-1033) kill T. brucei with low micromolar EC50 values. We now report promising activity of analogues of 1, which provided an excellent starting point for optimization of the chemotype.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our compound optimization that has led to synthesis of several potent 4-anilinoquinazolines, including NEU617, 23a, a highly potent, orally bioavailable inhibitor of trypanosome replication. At the cellular level, 23a blocks duplication of the kinetoplast and arrests cytokinesis, making it a new chemical tool for studying regulation of the trypanosome cell cycle.

Int J Pharm. 2012 Oct 15;436(1-2):127-34.

Enhanced brain accumulation of pazopanib by modulating P-gp and Bcrp1 mediated efflux with canertinib or erlotinib.[Pubmed: 22688250]

Primary objective of this investigation was to delineate the differential impact of efflux transporters P-glycoprotein (P-gp/Abcb1) and breast cancer resistance protein (Bcrp1/Abcg2) on brain disposition and plasma pharmacokinetics of pazopanib. In addition, this research investigated whether inhibition of these efflux transporters with clinically relevant efflux modulators Canertinib or erlotinib could be a viable strategy for improving pazopanib brain delivery.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
In vitro assays with MDCKII cell monolayers suggested that pazopanib is a high affinity substrate for Bcrp1 and a moderate substrate for P-gp. Co-incubation with specific transport inhibitors restored cell accumulation and completely abolished the directionality of pazopanib flux. Brain and plasma pharmacokinetic studies were conducted in FVB wild type mice in the absence and presence of specific transport inhibitors. Drug levels in plasma and brain were determined using a validated high performance liquid chromatography method using vandetanib as an internal standard. In vivo studies indicated that specific inhibition of either P-gp (by zosuquidar or LY335979) or Bcrp1 (by Ko143) alone did not significantly alter pazopanib brain accumulation. However, dual P-gp/Bcrp1 inhibition by elacridar (GF120918), significantly enhanced pazopanib brain penetration by ~5-fold without altering its plasma concentrations. Thus, even though Bcrp1 showed higher affinity towards pazopanib in vitro, in vivo at the mouse BBB both P-gp and Bcrp1 act in concert to limit brain accumulation of pazopanib. Furthermore, erlotinib and Canertinib as clinically relevant efflux modulators efficiently abrogated directionality in pazopanib efflux in vitro and their co-administration resulted in 2-2.5-fold increase in pazopanib brain accumulation in vivo.
CONCLUSIONS:
Further pre-clinical and clinical investigations are warranted as erlotinib or Canertinib may have a synergistic pharmacological effect in addition to their primary role of pazopanib efflux modulation as a combination regimen for the treatment of recurrent brain tumors.

Br J Haematol. 2011 Oct;155(2):198-208.

Irreversible pan-ERBB inhibitor canertinib elicits anti-leukaemic effects and induces the regression of FLT3-ITD transformed cells in mice.[Pubmed: 21848891]

Recent findings have indicated that tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting the ERBB receptor family display anti-leukaemic effects, despite the lack of receptor expression on human leukaemic cells.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
The occurrence of activating mutations in the gene encoding FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has rendered inhibition of this receptor a promising therapeutic target. Due to possibility of cross-reactivity, we investigated the effect of the irreversible pan-ERBB inhibitor Canertinib (CI-1033) on leukaemic cells expressing FLT3. The drug had anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on primary AML cells and human leukaemic cell lines expressing mutated FLT3. In several AML patient samples, a blast cell population expressing FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD) was eradicated by Canertinib. Canertinib inhibited receptor autophosphorylation and kinase activity of both mutated and FLT3 ligand stimulated wildtype FLT3, leading to inhibition of the PI3-kinase and MAP kinase pathways. Apoptotic induction was dependent on pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein BCL2L11/BIM because siRNA silencing attenuated apoptosis. Moreover, the drug induced regression of cells expressing FLT3-ITD in a murine in vivo-transplantation model at previously described tolerated doses.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results indicate that Canertinib, as an irreversible TKI, could constitute a novel treatment regimen in patients with mutated or overexpressed FLT3.

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Jul 8;410(3):422-7.

The pan-ErbB tyrosine kinase inhibitor canertinib induces caspase-mediated cell death in human T-cell leukemia (Jurkat) cells.[Pubmed: 21669187 ]

Canertinib is a novel ErbB-receptor inhibitor currently in clinical development for the treatment of solid tumors overexpressing ErbB-receptors. We have recently demonstrated that Canertinib displays anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in human myeloid leukemia cells devoid of ErbB-receptors. The mechanism mediating these effects are however unknown.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
In this study, we show that Canertinib is able to act as a multi-kinase inhibitor by inhibition of several intracellular kinases involved in T-cell signaling such as Akt, Erk1/2 and Zap-70, and reduced Lck protein expression in the human T-cell leukemia cell line Jurkat. Treatment with Canertinib at a concentration of 2 μM caused accumulation of Jurkat cells in the G(1) cell cycle phase and increased doses induced apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. Apoptotic signs of treated cells were detected by Annexin V staining and cleavage of PARP, caspase-3, -8, -9, -10 and Bid. A subset of the pro-apoptotic signals mediated by Canertinib could be significantly reduced by specific caspase inhibitors.
CONCLUSIONS:
Taken together, these results demonstrate the dual ability of Canertinib to downregulate important signaling pathways and to activate caspase-mediated intrinsic apoptosis pathway in human T-cell leukemia cells.

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011 Oct 28;414(3):563-8.

The pan-ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor canertinib promotes apoptosis of malignant melanoma in vitro and displays anti-tumor activity in vivo.[Pubmed: 21982771]

The ErbB receptor family has been suggested to constitute a therapeutic target for tumor-specific treatment of malignant melanoma.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Here we investigate the effect of the pan-ErbB tyrosine kinase inhibitor Canertinib on cell growth and survival in human melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo. Canertinib significantly inhibited growth of cultured melanoma cells, RaH3 and RaH5, in a dose-dependent manner as determined by cell counting. Half-maximum growth inhibitory dose (IC(50)) was approximately 0.8 μM and by 5 μM both cell lines were completely growth-arrested within 72 h of treatment. Incubation of exponentially growing RaH3 and RaH5 with 1 μM Canertinib accumulated the cells in the G(1)-phase of the cell cycle within 24h of treatment without induction of apoptosis as determined by flow cytometry. Immunoblot analysis showed that 1 μM Canertinib inhibited ErbB1-3 receptor phosphorylation with a concomitant decrease of Akt-, Erk1/2- and Stat3 activity in both cell lines. In contrast to the cytostatic effect observed at doses ≤ 5μM Canertinib, higher concentrations induced apoptosis as demonstrated by the Annexin V method and Western blot analysis of PARP cleavage. Furthermore, Canertinib significantly inhibited growth of RaH3 and RaH5 melanoma xenografts in nude mice.
CONCLUSIONS:
Pharmacological targeting of the ErbB receptors may prove successful in the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma.

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Feb 26;393(1):6-10.

The pan-ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor canertinib induces ErbB-independent apoptosis in human leukemia (HL-60 and U-937) cells.[Pubmed: 20096663]

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors have recently been shown to display anti-neoplastic effects in human malignant myeloid cells.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Our study was initiated in order to determine the effect of the pan-ErbB receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, Canertinib (CI-1033), on growth and survival of human leukemia (HL-60 and U-937) cells. We show that treatment of HL-60 and U-937 cells with Canertinib significantly inhibits growth of both cell lines in a dose-dependent manner; half maximal effective dose (IC(50)) in HL-60 and U-937 cells was approximately 2.5 microM and 1.0 microM, respectively. Treatment with 2 microM Canertinib promoted a G(1) cell cycle arrest, whereas doses of 5 microM or more induced apoptosis as determined by the Annexin V method and cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). HL-60 and U-937 cells lacked EGF-receptor transcript but expressed ErbB2-4 mRNA as determined by RT-PCR. However, none of the corresponding ErbB-receptor proteins could be detected by Western blot analysis. We conclude that Canertinib induces apoptosis in HL-60 and U-937 cells devoid of functional ErbB1-4 receptors.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results suggest that Canertinib could be of potential clinical interest in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.